IC1396 My first ever Mono/NB image

[Dmack1]

I had decided to not go mono until I could afford (and justify) the cost of a ASI2600mm But then I got a "too good to turn down" offer of a used QHY 163m (the QHY version of the ASI1600mm) complete with filter wheel and an equally good offer on a set of ZWO NB filters.

 

So this is my first light with that camera and my first ever mono/NB/SHO image with my own gear and data.

 

It is 2 hours of Ha and 1.5 hrs each Sii and Oiii. Of course more time will help but nights are still short here. The Oiii was really poor because of the full moon and a high haze. The little Sharpstar 61 EDPHii does not like moon anywhere close and I had some nasty gradients and reflections in the oiii. Ha and Sii were fine.

 

I would really appreciate constructive critique and suggestions for improvement from those of you more experienced with mono and NB. Thanks in advance.

 

[P Holdsworth]

That's a wonderful first mono image. I think the colour palette is excellent especially the gold tones 👍

[TerryMcK]

I think it is a wonderful first mono image. The bright star does have a bit of haloing which could be reduced slightly.

If you have a look at the integrated mono images it should show up which filter it is more apparent in. The ZWO 2nd generation SHO filters are excellent considering they are quoted as 7nm bandwidth but I suspect they are less than that. I have them on one of my cameras and find the O3 is more susceptible to haloing certain stars - the S2 is great and the Ha is superb .

There are many ways of reducing the halo and here is a method I use. Once you work out which mono image it is in you can either do a masked reduction around that particular star or do a light clone stamping (It is easier to do on a stretched non linear image) to remove/minimize the offending article leaving the actual star in place. If you remove the stars from the mono image beforehand with starnet++ or starxterminator it is much easier to clone stamp.

Once you do an LRGB join on the three stretched mono images it should have reduced.

[Dmack1]

6 minutes ago, TerryMcK said:

I think it is a wonderful first mono image. The bright star does have a bit of haloing which could be reduced slightly.

If you have a look at the integrated mono images it should show up which filter it is more apparent in. The ZWO 2nd generation SHO filters are excellent considering they are quoted as 7nm bandwidth but I suspect they are less than that. I have them on one of my cameras and find the O3 is more susceptible to haloing certain stars - the S2 is great and the Ha is superb .

There are many ways of reducing the halo and here is a method I use. Once you work out which mono image it is in you can either do a masked reduction around that particular star or do a light clone stamping (It is easier to do on a stretched non linear image) to remove/minimize the offending article leaving the actual star in place. If you remove the stars from the mono image beforehand with starnet++ or starxterminator it is much easier to clone stamp.

Once you do an LRGB join on the three stretched mono images it should have reduced.

Thanks Terry, yes it is indeed in the Oiii and was pretty awful, but only around that one star. I was petting it down to the presence of the moon and the high haze but you are right its likely the filter.

 

Thanks for the tips, I should have thought to clone stamp the Oiii in that area! I'll go back and have a go at it maybe later this week.

 

Thanks again.

[Galileo]

very cool, some NB images seem too gaudy for me but you have it spot on, keep 'em coming.